Semifinal clash between Serbia and Turkey in remake of 2019 final
Preview
The first semifinal match of the women’s CEV EuroVolley 2021 on Friday afternoon offers a remake of the continental final two years ago, when Serbia claimed their third European Championship title after a 3-2 victory over Turkey in the Turkish capital Ankara. This time, the Serbian capital Belgrade offers its Stark Arena as the stage of this unpredictable battle.
This will be the 10th time these two sides meet in the European Championships. Serbia, including predecessors Yugoslavia and Serbia & Montenegro, lead the head-to-head series by seven wins against two. The last time Turkey managed a EuroVolley victory over Serbia was back in 2009. However, Turkey defeated Serbia the last three times they met at world-level competitions, all in the FIVB Volleyball Nations League (2018, 2019 and 2021).
Both teams arrived at this stage of EuroVolley 2021 undefeated, each on an impeccable 7-0 win-loss record. In fact, Serbia’s EuroVolley winning streak started in 2017 and has now been extended to a remarkable 23 matches. In the quarterfinals of the ongoing tournament, they managed a 3-1 victory over France to advance to the semis.
The star-studded Serbian squad is led by legendary setter and captain Maja Ognjenovic, who will play her 301st match with the national team on Friday against Turkey. Opposite Tijana Boskovic, the second best scorer of the tournament on 156 points so far and well on her way to surpass Sweden’s Isabelle Haak (175), who is no longer in the competition, is expected to once again spearhead the Serbian offence towards victory.
Maja Ognjenovic“I think we are really well prepared for what’s coming, the two most important matches – the semifinal and, hopefully, the final. Of course, we are a little tired, but all of us in the team know our target and we are strong enough to reach the trophy in our capital of Serbia.”
Setter and captain of Serbia
Unlike three-time champions Serbia, Turkey have never won gold at the European Championships. This is the fourth consecutive and sixth overall time they have reached the semifinals and their podium tally includes two silver and two bronze medals.
Friday’s semifinal against Serbia will be Turkey’s first EuroVolley 2021 match at the Stark Arena. In the previous stages of the tournament, they topped the Pool D standings in Romania’s Cluj-Napoca and then travelled to Bulgaria’s Plovdiv, where they claimed a 3-1 eighthfinal win over Czechia and a 3-0 quarterfinal shutout of Poland.
Ebrar Karakurt is Turkey’s best scorer in the competition. She has contributed 109 points so far. Tugba Senoglu has tallied 13 aces from the serving line positioning herself as EuroVolley’s fourth best server, while middles Zehra Gunes and captain Eda Erdem have been a threat to the opponents’ spikers and recorded 14 kill blocks each.
Eda Erdem Dundar“In each EuroVolley match so far we improved our game and we are really happy to be in the final four. The semifinal game is going to be really difficult for us. There will be a huge spectator support for Serbia, but we will push ourselves and try our best to get a ticket to the final.”
Middle blocker and captain of Turkey
